What You Can Learn from a Psychopath

On the surface, it’s a tall task mining comedy from complete and total psychopathy, but Glenn Howerton has proven himself to be a worthy competitor. The star and co-creator of the hit sitcom It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia has portrayed his character, Dennis Reynolds, as a womanizing, egotistical, would-be serial killer for seven seasons—and has somehow convinced America to fall in love with him along the way.

Men’s Health: You can argue that Dennis is the only member of the Gang who doesn’t really have a heart. Did you set out to make him such a deplorable character?

Glenn Howerton: I don’t think it’s as simple as him not having a heart. I think he’s a little more complicated. You can make the argument that he’s the most sensitive out of all of them. I think it’s pretty apparent when anything crosses him or he feels as though his ego is being damaged in any way, shape, or form, he just completely loses it. And so I think while he can seem heartless and emotionless at times, I think you could also argue that he’s the most emotional, and the only way he knows how to show it is by lashing out or getting angry or by being vengeful.

MH: Many times we choose the craziest people to lead us precisely because they are psychopaths, and along with that comes viciousness, narcissism, and OCD—all of which are great attributes to have in business. Is that an accurate thing to say about Dennis?

Glenn Howerton: Yeah, he absolutely has a lot of sociopathic tendencies. He thinks only of himself at all times, so anytime anything steps in his path, he’ll do whatever he can to destroy it. The difference between him and a CEO is that a CEO knows how to do it in a way that isn’t so obvious. But Dennis just flies off the handle. In the process of trying to destroy others, he destroys himself, so that’s what separates him from a real psychopath. Those types are so calculated, and I think he just doesn’t possess all of that self-control to be a truly successful psychopath. If anybody would even suggest to him that he is not the greatest gift to mankind, then he’s just so hurt by it. And that to me is what’s funny about it.

MH: Rob [McElhenney] and Charlie [Day] both use their own nicknames as their character’s names, but you changed yours to Dennis. Is that because you wanted to separate Glenn from Dennis, and just how much overlap is there between the two of you?

Glenn Howerton:Dennis is just really an expression of my worst impulses as a human being. It’s me expelling my own demons and trying to find humor in my worst impulses.

MH: Before Sunny, the three of you were all toiling away in bottom-feeder roles before saying, “screw it, let’s do this thing ourselves and shoot a pilot DIY style.” So you took creative control from day one. Have you always had an entrepreneurial drive?

Glenn Howerton:I’ve always been very driven, but it’s weird, because it’s always been a combination for me of being both incredibly lazy and incredibly driven. This show would never have happened if I were the only person behind it, because I think I would be too lazy to get something like this off the ground. But at the same time I’m also driven enough where if I start something, I’m going to finish it. We really strive hard to not just continue doing the show, but continue doing quality episodes, challenging ourselves, challenging the audience, and not resting on our laurels. I take my work very seriously, and that’s the only way for it to be fun for me. If I half-assed shit, I wouldn’t be able to go home with my head high. I’d just feel like I was selling out.

MH: Rob’s gotten a lot of buzz around his recent intentional weight gain for the show, and Charlie blew up over the summer in Horrible Bosses. Have you ever felt like, “Hey, where’s my moment? When’s that going to happen?”

Glenn Howerton:It’s interesting that you would bring that up because most people would probably think it’s a sensitive question. But the truth is that I love these guys that I work with. I’m extremely proud of them and I admire their talents every single day that we come into work. And I’ve wondered why Charlie wasn’t a movie star before. He has a very special gift as an actor. To see him finally start breaking out in movie roles was always inevitable to me. Look, I’m an actor, and I would love to get the kind of big break and opportunity that Charlie’s getting right now, but I don’t begrudge him that in any way. As far as myself, I think I fall in a slightly different category than him. What [Charlie] does on the show stands out because he’s just such a unique human being, and it’s a little easier to pluck him out and say, “Oh, I want to bring that uniqueness to my movie.” For me, on the surface, I think there are a lot of people who sort of do what I do—the slightly more conventional leading men. I think it’s a little easier to see how to fit Charlie into something than it is to fit me into something when there are a lot of actors who are either slightly better looking or entirely better looking than I am. [Laughs]

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